Long Island’s second recreational cannabis dispensary opened its doors Tuesday in East Farmingdale.
Happy Days Dispensary, located on Route 109 near Republic Airport, is also the second state-licensed brick-and-mortar recreational marijuana shop to operate in the same Babylon Town neighborhood following Strain Stars’ opening in July.
“This is beautiful,” customer Nicole Smith said of the 5,300-square-foot space after buying some pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes.
The Lindenhurst resident said she uses marijuana to relieve the effects of multiple sclerosis and help her sleep.
Earlier this month Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Happy Days’ tentative opening date as Dec. 23.
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management said it gave the store the green light to open after an inspection Friday.
But without a town certificate of occupancy, which Happy Days President Paul Lepore said town officials promised Friday, the store couldn’t open until Tuesday.
Matt McDonough, an outside attorney who handles marijuana issues for Babylon, said town hall was closed Friday and paving had to be completed in the store’s parking lot before the certificate could be issued.
Happy Days opened at noon Tuesday, about 30 minutes after getting its certificate of occupancy.
But in the next hour, the store’s more than two dozen employees heavily outnumbered its customers. Lepore said opening date confusion and an intentional lack of advertising led to the sparse clientele.
“We wanted to serve the